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1. And away we go.

We closed last week’s edition with a tease that Clemson’s 2021 recruiting class was set to be christened in the immediate future.

That materialized Thursday in four-star fashion, and we’ll get to him in a second.

While it feels as if the Tigers were getting a later start than usual, that’s a matter of perspective.

Of the 65 power conference programs, 34 already had junior commitments. So yeah, conventional wisdom might lead one to conclude the defending national champions would have somebody in the boat before so many others.

The flip side is that the elite teams with the most leverage are the ones who could or should wait the longest, as the earlier the take, the greater the risk for whether that prospect is of the desired quality or stability.

Miami gets off to jackrabbit starts every cycle, only for it to later be exposed that it has stockpiled a bunch of average locals.

Florida, meanwhile, has more 2021 decommitments (five) than all but two teams – Miami and Texas – have commitments!

So the narrative can shift quickly.

Right now it’s as much a matter of whom Clemson is willing to take than whom it can get.

Within a month, we could easily be debating whether the Tigers should have filled certain spots in lieu of waiting on others or waiting to see how stocks changed through junior season performances.

Those are the risk vs. reward decisions the staff must assess on a case-by-case basis.

One of those has been made, and more are yet to come.